Even so, like a lot of men, I'm just not psychologically ready to let go.

Hey, my car is only 14 years old, and it still gets 29 miles per gallon, just like the day I bought it. It's still got the original ... well, I'm sure something on it is original.

Sure, I know there are a lot of guys out there who wouldn't be caught dead in my car, even if it did have a radio that works.

These are the same guys who trade in their old cars every 12 months or 6,000 miles, whichever comes first. They probably even enjoy those surreal little conversations with new-car salesmen.

ME: "How much does this car cost?"

THEM: "How much do you think it should cost?"

When it comes time to buy a new automobile, I'd rather do just about anything else:

• I'd rather see my old 1990 Honda Civic station wagon with 128,747 Hawai'i miles on it ride on indefinitely instead of riding off into the sunset.
• I'd rather rip another brand-new pair of pants on the metal springs popping out of the driver's seat than let it go.
• I'd even rather break down one more time in the fast lane of the H-1 Freeway in a driving rainstorm than sit in that little cubicle while the sales guy checks one more time with his boss.

That little Honda is the first new car I ever bought, and I admit to being unreasonably sentimental about it. It came to me at something of a midpoint in life, when I was finally feeling a little financially secure.

Before that new car, I had nothing but a series of second-hand rides, somebody else's trouble.

The new car meant I'd arrived.

Now, I suppose, some people look at the rust spreading over the hood, doors, roof and — well, you get the idea — and might guess I'm leaving instead of arriving. They probably wonder why I don't just donate the car to public radio and make Hawai'i roads a safer place.

But I've got my reasons for holding onto the old car. And I'm not alone.

When the city announced recently that it would begin to replace all license plates like mine beginning with the letter E — they were first issued in 1990 — it said there were probably 50,000 or more of them still out on the roads.

Me and that Honda are like longtime friends, getting older together.

There's a lot of good miles left on both of us.

But that's not why I keep it around. The truth is that it has three really good features that I can't bear to part with:

It's paid for, it runs well and nobody would dream of stealing it.